Sunday, 5 February 2012

The History of Festivals

If you compare an ancient religious ritual to today's music
festivals (Burning Man, Glastonbury et al) there will be many obvious
differences; the religious ceremonies, the activities available and the
outfits. However, some things stay the same; in Ancient Egypt, people
would sing and dance and listen to music at religious rituals and many other
ancient festivals would include lots of music just like today's music festivals
have live acts. From 4500 BC there is evidence of singing and dancing at
religious festivals but they would also have elements of religion and
politics. Below are three very different festivals and a brief history of each one.

Oireachtas na
Gaeilge

The first really successful
recreational festival took place in Dublin in May 1897. It was called Oireachtas na
Gaeilge and it attracted thousands of visitors in its first year
which was far more than anticipated. In 1897 it was a half day event. The afternoon
activities involved mostly literary competitions and poetry and short story
readings. The evening was then taken up by a music concert. Many believe this
festival to be the birth of the music festivals that we know and love today.
Before then, the only recorded festivals where music, singing and dancing had
been widely accepted were religious. Oireachtas na Gaeilge was advertised
around Britain in Gaelic and English telegrams and rail-road authorities
offered return tickets for the festival goers. Oireachtas na Gaeilge is
stillaround to go to
today. It is now known as the Irish language festival and is predominantly literary competitions and media
awards; an arts festival that celebrates Irish culture. It runs for a week and
features performances, demonstrations and competitions. One of the main
differences between the 1897 Oireachtas na Gaeilge and today's festivals
is that they are less focused on music and more on literature but they do have
singing and song writing contests as well as discos to suit a younger target
market. You can book tickets for this November byvisiting
this website. The webpage comes up in Gaelic but it can be translated
to English in the top right hand corner. You can find more information about
the festival on the website.

Glastonbury

This is the festival that Ireallywant to
go to. You can go without an over eighteen when you are sixteen. It is not on
this year but next year it will be. I think I will save up and arrange to go
when I'm eighteen though because then I will hopefully be able to experience
everything and get my money's worth. It is probably Britain's most famous
festival because it has all the most contemporary acts from all over the world.
Beyonce was part of their line up last year; which big star will be next? The
festival made its début in 1970 and had an attendance of one thousand
five hundred. It only cost £1 to enter whereas today it costs over £200.
Glastonbury celebrated its fortieth anniversary last year with many special
events. Maybe it would be a good idea to go in 2020 because there fiftieth anniversary
should be even bigger. For more information head over to thefestival's website.

Burning Man

I think that this festival has the most interesting history. It
has built up over the years and has had many documentaries and the like. I
heard about this wild Nevada festival in Vogue's Great Escapes issue
where model, Tali Lennox Fruchtmann took her dad there. She said that some
people would think that a crazy thing to do as this festival is so hardcore
that some people literally run around naked. Nevertheless, she said that
her father was more like a very cool friend. The event first took place in 1986 when
Larry and Jerry James built an 8 foot man sculpture and burnt it in honour ofSummer Solstice. The
first Burning Man had only 20 participants. It took place on Baker Beach in San
Francisco until 1990 when it moved to Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It was
named the Burning Man in 1988. In 1989, the police arrived at the site of the
Burning Man and as it was still not an official event they tried to stop it. In
1990 a society of carpenters help to construct the man. The police arrive again
in 1990 and and ban the burning but they reach a compromise and that is
why the festival now takes place in Nevada in a desert because it does not
get in anyone's way. It has now become so much more than a festival for so
many people. It is artistic and encourages self expression. Some people go
to meditation courses in India to find themselves and some people go to
The Burning Man festival in Nevada where people roll around in the mud and make
a city only to destroy it. Burning Man is not for the faint hearted: the site
even contains a survival guide. However, the fact that it is in a desert means
that each year a city of art and sculptures and wildness is created in a week
and then the tens of thousands of people leave a week later, not leaving a
trace behind. Then they reunite next year to do it all over again. This is
definitely not a regular music festival but it sounds like a fabulous
experience nonetheless. Each year there is a different theme that usually has a
deeper meaning behind it (e.g. the environment.) In 2009, the festival had
43,558 participants and the theme was evolution. Burning Man is a culture, a
community, a way of life. To read more about Burning Man's very intriguing history click here.

1 comment:

I agree there are a lot of similarities and differences between religious gathring and music festivals. Instead of being for one religion, all people of all religions are welcome to come together for one common interest: the music! It's music, not religion, that brings people together for a common purpose. But what comes of that within one of those music packed weekend is its own spirituality of connectedness with others.

ABOUT

Hi I’m Sophie. I’m a writer and freelance fashion journalist based in Kent/London. I keep this blog to document my interests and various style inspirations. You can contact me at sophie.wilson09a@hotmail.co.uk